Snap Inc., which owns the popular messaging app Snapchat, launched shares on Thursday and is already making impressive moves on the New York Stock Exchange, after raising $3.4 billion through its I.P.O.
In its first day, shares for the company’s stock jumped from $17 to $24, a nearly 50 percent increase. Major investors in the photo sharing app include NBCUniversal, who invested $500 million on Friday according to the company’s Chief Executive Steve Burke in a memo to employees.
However, one early investor is seeing a big windfall. Saint Francis Academy in Northern California initially invested $15,000 in Snap back in 2012 when the company was in its early days. When the price of a Snap share jumped, the school sold two-thirds of its shares coming away $24 million richer.
The Venice-based company is now worth more than $28 billion. Snap Inc., is owned by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy and employs 1,859 people.